One month later and Payne is still in the hospital recovering from her injuries. Curlee is still on the run.

“I trusted this man everything with my life — and he tried to take it,” Payne said. “I’m terrified.”

It wasn’t the first time that Curlee beat Payne. He was convicted of assaulting her in 2012. It was his fourth assault conviction in less than 10 years. But instead of jail time, Curlee was given community control sanctions.

According to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Records, a judge found that “community control sanctions will adequately protect the public and will not demean the seriousness of the offense.”

But Payne said her injuries show that she was not safe.

“It’s a miracle that I even survived,” she said.

Now Payne is pleading for anyone with information on the whereabouts of Rodney Curlee to turn him in.

“This man needs to be locked up,” she said. “This needs to be taken seriously.”

According to Portage Co. court records, a warrant for Curlee’s arrest was issued on June 15.

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